SUNNYVALE, CA, November 15, 2004 - Aruba Wireless Networks (Aruba) today announced strategicnew partnerships with end-point security vendor, Sygate Technologies and network securityvendor, Fortinet, Inc., to enable a more efficient, robust and scalable model for deploying centralizedenterprise anti-virus and anti-worm solutions.

In concert with the extension of its wireless grid architecture (see related release "Aruba ExtendsWireless Grids to Secure Wired Networks"), Aruba will integrate Fortinet's market-leading FortiGate™antivirus systems and Sygate best-of-breed security solutions into Aruba's Grid architecture. Theresulting solution is the first centralized anti-virus and anti-worm capability that can be virtualized forany port in the network, protecting both wired and wireless users without closet or network systemupgrades.

User Mobility equires ethinking Network Security
As more mobile users - from guests to contractors, consultants to employees - access the corporatenetwork through wired ports and wireless access points, IT staff are challenged to protect interiorcorporate networks from viruses, worms and other potential dangers. Like the Internet, interior corporatenetworks have become untrusted, due to changing usage patters that allow mobile users tocarry various types of malware inside the network interior, bypassing perimeter security.

Additionally, wireless technologies allow users to access corporate networks and engage in peerto-peer communication through radio frequencies. This is forcing corporations to change how theyprotect interior networks from what is now a diverse and mobile user community.

In response, some corporations have tried distributing anti-virus, firewalls, intrusion prevention systems,remediation appliances and content filters throughout the corporate interior. IT staffs are findingthis approach difficult to scale, inflexible and expensive. And once deployed, distributed securityarchitectures often disable or break user mobility.

Centralizing Best-of Breed Security Eliminates Cost and Complexity
Extending Aruba's wireless grid architecture solves these interior security problems by enablingbest-of-breed security services to be centralized within the grid architecture. In turn, all security servicescan be virtualized for all network ports from a single point within the network. This eliminatesreconfiguring the network for security changes, upgrading wiring closet switches (e.g. to support802.1x), adding new security appliances in every closet and deploying "trust agents" on clients toprovide advanced admission controls.

Aruba has developed a unique new capability called the grid services interface (GSI) that allowsthird-party security services to be easily integrated within its grid architecture. Aruba's GSI is anopen interface that lets enterprises centralize all security and scale performance based on theirneeds.

Ensuring a Virus-Free Enterprise
Aruba and Fortinet are partnering to offer a wide array of Fortinet's security products - including itsflagship ASIC-accelerated FortiGate Antivirus Firewalls, FortiManager management platform and FortiLoglogging and reporting systems - as part of Aruba's grid architecture that provides customerswith centralized wired and wireless security.

Instead of deploying antivirus firewalls in-line at every wiring closet, Aruba's grid architecture enablesFortiGate devices to be deployed centrally behind new Aruba grid controllers that can applysecurity policies and then intelligently redirect traffic as needed to the Fortinet solution, beforeforwarding virus-free content to the intended destinations. Fortinet's FortiGate Antivirus Firewallsystems are complete content security solutions that protect against the growing number of costly,content-based threats at the network's edge, while delivering the highest possible performance.They combine antivirus, firewall, VPN, content filtering and intrusion detection and prevention in asingle, easy to manage and cost-effective system.

Complementing this anti-virus solution, Sygate and Aruba have integrated Sygate's endpoint securitysolution directly into Aruba's grid controller. By doing this, Aruba's grid controller can enforcepolicies such as "only forward traffic by specific file type" or "forward traffic originating from "untrusted"hosts to centralized anti-virus FortiGate firewalls. This results in an optimal combination ofclient based protection, appropriately and affordably augmented by centralized anti-virus systemsfrom Fortinet.

"Mobility and a broad diversity of users and devices is now a given in today's enterprise networks,"said John De Santis, president and CEO at Sygate. "Sygate and Aruba have now made it easier forcompanies to build a centralized and non-disruptive security overlay to the IP network that ensuresthe integrity of all end point devices by ensuring they are in continuous compliance with corporatesecurity policies."

"Wireless networking brings about many advantages but makes corporations more vulnerable toattacks," said Ken Xie, founder, president and CEO at Fortinet. "Aruba's addition of Fortinet systemsinto its grid architecture makes it possible to direct all traffic at every point in the network to a securitycore or clearinghouse thereby providing a much more efficient and cost-effective way to deployand scale network security."

"It only takes a single infected laptop plugging into a network port to threaten enterprise-wide operations,"said Don LeBeau, president and CEO of Aruba. "With Aruba's grid architecture, combinedwith solutions from Fortinet and Sygate, we can now affordably ensure that no known viruses orworms can escape into the corporate network."

Integrated support for Sygate and Fortinet within Aruba's grid architecture will be available in December2004.